Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a drama about a young girl who inherits the powers to fight the demons that threaten the Earth. She lives in Sunnydale, California which happens to be the Hellmouth and must learn to master her powers while also trying to have some semblance of a normal life. The WB 1997 - 2001. UPN 2002-03.

Top episodes

Buffy bursts into song about how numb she feels. The Scoobies agree to research the problem and theorise in chorus. The problem is spreading around Sunnydale with everyone spilling their guts in song. Tara sings of her love for Willow, Spike of his frustration with Buffy's interest in him and Anya and Xander of their relationship fears. Before Dawn can sing of her loneliness she is abducted by the demon responsible for all this. He explains that once people have expressed all their emotion in song they will spontaneously combust. Buffy has to come to her rescue before the Demon makes her his Queen.

Angel sketches Buffy while she sleeps, kills Willow's fish and stalks Joyce. Giles searches for a way to uninvited him from their homes while Jenny looks for a way to restore his soul. Drusilla senses something about Jenny and so Angel comes to the school to kill her. He leaves the body in Giles' bed and Giles heads to the factory seeking vengeance.

Buffy escapes from the police and goes to see Willow who is unconscious at the hospital. Xander stays with her as Buffy searches for Giles. She finds Whistler instead and then runs into Spike. He offers her a deal: Dru for Angel as he doesn't want the world to end. She takes it but she is forced to tell Joyce the truth about her slaying. Spike returns to the Mansion and both aids Angel in his torture of Giles and helps keep him from harm. Willow recovers and insists on repeating the spell to restore Angel's soul. Xander is supposed to tell Buffy but doesn't as she and Spike attack. Spike flees with Dru as Angel successfully pulls the sword from Acathla. Buffy is about to kill Angel when Willow completes the spell and his soul is returned. Buffy stabs him, sealing the portal and leaves town.

Signs of evil are appearing as the hellmouth is about to open again. Xander feels increasingly left out by his super powered friends. He borrows a car to try and be seen as cool but it leads him into the path of local psycho Jack O'Toole. Jack begins raising his friends from the dead and forces Xander to drive them around. The Scoobies prepare for Armageddon and keep Xander out of the loop. When he realises that Jack plans on blowing up the school he is the only one who can stop him.

Fuffy is taken away by the police and then captured by the men from the Watcher’s Council. Baith takes a bath and gets used to her new body. She books a flight out of town and then pops by Giles’ house to catch up with the Scoobies. She tells them she is off to hunt for Adam but goes dancing at the Bronze instead. After teasing Spike she mocks Tara and then heads to Riley’s. Tara senses that something is wrong and she and Willow perform a spell to locate Buffy. The next day Fuffy returns to find Giles while Baith heads for the airport. Meanwhile Adam has stirred up some vampires who invade a local church during a service. Baith and Fuffy rush to the scene.

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ORIGINS

Joss Whedon wanted to subvert the traditional Hollywood image of the petite blonde being chased down a dark alley by a monster and instead turn that woman into the hero. This subversion formed the basis of his screenplay called Buffy the Vampire Slayer which was made into a movie in 1992. Several years later FOX executive Gail Berman suggested that he develop the idea into a television show. Whedon developed the idea into high school as hell and helped fund a non-broadcast pilot.

CONTENT

The show was sold to the WB and premiered in March 1997. It gained the highest Monday night ratings in the network's history and soon drew critical acclaim as well.

THETVCRITIC

The absence of any more "Content" or even a "Legacy" section on this page are because of my own project "The Buffy Rewatch." When I launched Thetvcritic.org in 2009 one of the first shows I covered was Joss Whedon's Dollhouse. Indiana native Cordia got in touch and volunteered to co-host the podcasts I was producing. We enjoyed recording the podcasts but were less keen on our subject matter. With the end of Dollhouse we agreed that it would be a good idea to record a podcast about Buffy.

Back in 1998 I began watching Buffy after some of my school friends told me how good the show was. My own experience of American network drama shows was based around the various incarnations of Star Trek, Lois and Clark and Due South. My interest in television was already growing but Buffy was the first drama show that generated a strong emotional response in me. After years of watching procedural, episodic, emotionally bland television, Buffy broke all the rules. The ongoing stories and character arcs based around genuine emotion combined with the intriguing science fiction made me a huge fan.

Naturally I was very keen to give Buffy the same review treatment that I was giving contemporary shows. With The Buffy Rewatch I now had my excuse. In November 2010 we finally began to release reviews of each episode and an accompanying podcast. It has been a real joy to return to such a quality show.

As the Rewatch reaches its conclusion I will fill in the rest of the description of Buffy and its many influences on other TV shows. For now though I would prefer to keep my mind fresh and not delve into it ahead of the Rewatch. The reviews and podcasts are all here on the site but the majority of discussion takes place here at the Rewatch's official home.

November 2011

Podcast

Open the Buffy the Vampire Slayer podcast in iTunes or in your favourite RSS reader: